Over the last decade or so, electronic devices responsible for establishing and maintaining wireless connectivity within a wireless network have increased in complexity. For instance, wireless electronic devices now support greater processing speeds and greater data rates. As a by-product of this increase in complexity, radio communications techniques have evolved with the emergence of multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) antenna architectures.
In general, MIMO involves the use of multiple antennas operating as transmitters and/or receivers to improve communication performance. Herein, multiple radio channels are used to carry data within radio signals transmitted and/or received via multiple antennas. As a result, in comparison with other conventional antenna architectures, MIMO antenna architectures offer significant increases in data throughput and link reliability (reducing fading) without increased transmit power.
Currently, in wireless access points for example, MIMO antennas are deployed on a flat surface commonly used as a heat sink. This deployment fails to optimize spatial diversity, polarization diversity or pattern diversity in order to optimize antenna performance.